My Journey as the First Woman to Throw Batting Practice to MLB Teams

MLB Scout School: Day 7

“Your authentic self is the soul made visible.”
-Sarah Ban Breathnach

“You mean were not just here to get married,” I jokingly said to Tyler. She laughed, and replied, “I’ve heard that one before.” Tyler and I are the only women at the scout development program. But both of us are use to being the only females in a room filled with baseball guys. For me, the chance to hang out with another baseball woman has been awesome.

Tyler Tumminia grew up in baseball and is now a successful baseball executive. She is the V.P. of marketing and operations for the Goldklang group (NJ). She hosts a webisode called Be Your Own Fan TV (byoftv.com). Her father, John Tumminia, has been a scout for more than 30-years. Tyler spearheaded the creation of the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame.

Both Tyler and I have had our scout abilities and motivations questioned because of our gender. And so I wanted to ask her more about her experiences. Before coming to scout school, I had run into Tyler at various baseball events. When describing her to others, I would say that she is, “beautiful; dresses like a model; really smart; and way cooler than me.” Now that I have spent a week with her at scout school I would add: funny, sensitive, hard worker, and trustworthy. Below is my interview with her:

Why did you want to come to scout school?
I wanted to attend Scout School in order to hone and develop my scouting skills, which I believe will assist me in whatever role(s) I may occupy within the sport in the future. Enhancing my ability to evaluate players will add to my already well developed business skill set and help me become a well rounded candidate in the future. Everyone, new to the game or a veteran, can benefit from this program to further develop their ability to evaluate players.

Your dad is a well known, established scout. Tell me about him and what its like being his daughter?
I’m always under the gun! I’m always being evaluated (she says with a laugh) My father used baseball as an analogy for every life experience. For example, he would reference my academics like Ty – I think you sit 94-96. You can dial it up to 98-99 when the competition calls for it, though. He is a tough evaluator off/on the field, but my relationship is unique for a father and daughter, we can talk baseball and there was always time for a catch even to this day. When we have a catch, that’s when we can talk about anything under the sun.

What has been the most challenging aspect of scout school?
The schedule is a grind here. We start at 9:00AM with a day ending around 10:00pm- everyday for two weeks straight! The challenge is to maintain balance physically and mentally. They push you with information overload, expectations to capture an accurate snapshot of multiple prospects in your verbal evaluations and report writing, assignments at night and then you press play the next day and do it all over again.

If you could give one piece of advise to a girl who one day dreams of working in professional baseball what would that be?
Be your authentic self. It may seem simple- but as you mature and grow into success- it becomes a challenge. I encourage everyone male or female to be their authentic self and I promise you will find success in all aspects of life.

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